CREAL: Green spaces near your home reduces obesity in schoolchildren

News from CREAL

A scientific study confirms the benefits on health to live near green and blue spaces (forests, parks, lakes, sea, etc) reducing obesity and overweight. The only problem is that researchers have verified that this increases the possibility of allergies but not cases of asthma.

In this study researchers used data from 3,178 schoolchildren (9-12 years old) in Sabadell, Spain (2006), from INMA project, through questionnaires. According to Payam Dadvand, a CREAL researcher and one of the authors, residential surrounding greenness was associated with 11-19% lower relative prevalence of overweight/obesity and excessive screen time. Similarly, residential proximity to forests was associated with 39% and 25% lower relative prevalence of excessive screen time and overweight/obesity, respectively, but was not associated with current asthma. In contrast, living close to parks was associated with a 60% higher relative prevalence of current asthma, but had only weak negative associations with obesity/overweight or excessive screen time.